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Hello and welcome to the excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor.

Today is Thursday, April 24th, 2025, and this is a special episode of The Excerpt.

Most of us can say that we're fans of something, music, sports, art, books, but what does it mean to be part of a fandom?

You've probably seen devoted super fans participating in cosplay at Comic Con,

painted in their team's color at a football game,

or dressed up as their favorite characters at a midnight screening of a film series.

But is there something deeper than just fun at play here?

Something that aligns more with religion or even sacredness. That's the argument of

sociologist Michael Elliott, a professor at Towson University, who studied the culture

of Comic Con for seven years. Michael, thank you for being on the excerpt.

It's great to be here. Thank you for having me.

Can you explain what Comic-Con is for those who don't know?

Comic-Con is an abbreviation. It stands for comic book convention. And so the kinds of fans

that I'm researching are those engaged in what I call Comic-Con

culture. So these are particular interests that revolve around a comic book convention, fans of

comic books, superheroes, science fiction, anime and manga, cosplay, and gaming. Those are the main

interests. How did Comic-Con culture first spark your interest? What compelled you to study it?

I think I was compelled based on my experience in the classroom.

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